Học Tiếng Anh qua Idioms (Trình độ Advanced)

 or ignore normal procedures or rules (also: to step out of line) 
• When a child gets out of line in that teacher’s class, she uses the old-fashioned method of making the child sit in 
the corner of the room. 
• Any employee who steps out of line by coming to work in an unacceptable condition will be fired. 
dry run: rehearsal, practice session 
• The college president requested a dry run of the graduation ceremony in order to ensure that all aspects went 
smoothly. 
• Before the manager presented the reorganizational plans to the board of directors, he did several dry runs of his 
presentation. 
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to play by ear: to play music that one has heard but never read (S); to proceed without plan, to do spontaneously (S) 
The pronoun it is often used with the second definition. 
• That pianist can play most popular music by ear. She never needs to read sheet music. 
• My husband wanted to plan our trip carefully, but I argued that it was more fun if we played it by ear. 
to be in (someone’s) shoes: to be in another person’s position, to face the same situation as another person 
• If I were in your shoes, I wouldn’t take too many classes this semester. 
• When his boss finds out about that accounting error, I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes. 
to keep after: to remind constantly, to nag 
• Lynn always has to keep after her children about cleaning up their rooms and doing chores around the house. 
• Lon is so forgetful that it’s necessary to keep after him about every little thing. 
to fix up: to repair or put back in good condition (S); to arrange a date or an engagement for another person (S) 
• Instead of buying an expensive new home, we decided to buy an older home and fix it up ourselves. 
• Since my visiting friend didn’t have a date for dinner, I fixed her up with a male friend of mine. They got along 
very well together. 
to be had: to be victimized or cheated 
• When the jeweler confirmed that the diamonds that the woman had purchased abroad were really fake, she 
exclaimed, «I’ve been had!» 
• The angry customer complained about being overcharged at the store, asserting that this was the third time that he 
had been had. 
EXERCISES 
∗ Substitute an idiomatic expression for the word or words in italics, making any necessary grammatical changes as 
well. Then complete each sentence appropriately with your own idea. Also try to use idioms from previous 
lessons. 
1. Because most of her elementary school students were wasting time, the teacher 
2. When Joey spoke disrespectfully to his mother, she 
3. When he learned that the owner wasn’t available, the visiting salesperson 
4. Greg is willing to help his brother with some household chores, but he refuses to consider 
5. If you disobey the rules one more time, I will 
6. The theater group did a rehearsal of the play before 
7. Mrs. Dixson has the special ability to play music she has heard but never read. She doesn’t have to 
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8. I wouldn’t want to be in Ted’s position. The police have discovered that he 
9. Every day after school, Harriet’s parents have to nag her to 
10. I decided to arrange an engagement for him because he 
∗ Answer these questions orally by making use of the idiomatic expressions studied in this lesson. 
1. Are you usually a serious person, or do you like to goof off a lot? Why might goofing off sometimes be healthy 
for you? 
2. When (If) you were (are) young, did (do) you talk back to your parents? Why or why not? 
3. Do you pay attention to whether clothing fashions are in or out? What is an advantage of not paying attention? 
4. If you had to give a speech in class, would you do a dry run? Why or why not? 
5. When (If) you were (are) young, what did (do) your parents have to keep after you about? Did you ever learn 
to remember it, or do you still forget? 
6. Have you ever fixed someone up with a date, or have you ever been fixed up with a date yourself? Can you 
imagine why the term blind date is sometimes used in such cases? 
7. Have you ever been had by someone you just met, such as a store clerk or a stranger on the street? What 
happened? 
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REVIEW-LESSON 28 TO 39 
A. Match the idiom in the left column with the definition in the right column. 
 1. let alone a) I don’t know 
 2. on the ball b) certainly, definitely 
 3. search me c) nervous, irritable 
 4. by the way d) rehearsal, practice session 
 5. on hand e) and certainly not 
 6. by all means f) incidentally 
 7. more or less g) available, nearby 
 8. a steal h) in general 
 9. dry run i) attentive, alert 
 10. on the whole j) directly, personally 
 11. on edge k) approximately, almost 
 12. face-to-face l) very inexpensive 
B. In the space provided, mark whether each sentence is true (T) or false (F). 
1. If you have succeeded in landing on your feet after financial difficulties, things probably are looking up in 
your life. ____ 
2. If you go through channels in submitting a complaint, you are probably making waves in your 
company. ____ 
3. If someone asks why you did something and you can’t think up a good reason, you might respond, «Search 
me.» ____ 
4. If you know someone who likes to put others on, you can usually take that person at their word. ____ 
5. If the subject matter of an academic field often is over your head, you may not be cut out for that field. ____ 
6. Parents might go off the deep end if they have to wait up for their child very late without knowing what he or 
she is up to. ____ 
7. If you get a problem off your chest, you are beating around the bush. ____ 
8. If you are able to get through to someone, you have wasted your breath. ____ 
9. If you are not with someone while they are explaining something, you are catching on. ____ 
10. You might back out of an activity that could cause you to get cold feet at the last minute. ____ 
11. If you dislike playing something by ear you will probably leave it open. ____ 
12. If you are learning the ropes, it is possible that you might goof up once in a while. ____ 
C. Fill in each blank with the appropriate form of the idioms using give listed below. Some expressions come 
from Lessons l to 27. 
give and take to give up to give in 
to give off to give out to give one a break 
to give birth to to give one a hand to give one a big hand 
1. Mrs. Johnson was very surprised when she _____________________ twin boys. 
2. Because it was the first time that I had fooled around in class I asked the teacher _____________________. 
3. A successful marriage is mostly a matter of _____________________ between husband and wife. 
4. This box is too heavy for me to lift alone. Could you _____________________. 
5. The lecturer was so interesting that the audience _____________________ at the end of the talk. 
6. The man stood on the street corner and _____________________ advertising flyers to the people passing by. 
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7. Could you please take this garbage outside? It _____________________ a very bad smell. 
8. The army forces _____________________ when they discovered that they were surrounded by the enemy. 
9. I usually don’t _____________________ so easily, but this work is too hard for me to do. 
D. Fill in each blank with the appropriate form of the idioms using keep listed below. Some expressions come 
from Lessons 1-27. 
to keep one s head to keep up with to keep in touch with 
to keep one’s word to keep after to keep in mind 
to keep track of to keep away to keep one s fingers crossed 
1. In the emergency situation, Alex was able _____________________ and save the child from drowning in the 
ocean. 
2. At the racetrack, none of the horses were able _____________________ the horse that was expected to win 
the race. 
3. When we visited Disneyland, we had to be careful _____________________ our children in the large crowds 
of people. 
4. You have _____________________ Tanya to return the typewriter or she will forget time and again. 
5. You should _____________________ about doing that important task and not neglect to attend to it any 
longer. 
6. Even though you’re moving to another city, we should _____________________ each other as much as 
possible. 
7. While I was cooking with hot grease on the stove, I warned others _____________________ in order not to 
get burned. 
8. When teaching beginning-level English students, it is important _____________________ that their range of 
vocabulary is quite limited. 
9. The weather forecast is calling for cloudy skies tomorrow. We should _____________________ that it 
doesn’t rain during the picnic. 
E. Fill in each blank with the appropriate form of the idioms using go listed below. Some expressions come from 
Lessons 1 to 27. 
to go through to go to town to go without saying 
touch and go to go in for to go around 
to go over to go off to go with 
1. I was too tired to get up in the morning when my alarm clock _____________________, so I turned it off and 
went back to sleep. 
2. My presentation to the class _____________________ so well that the students gave me a big hand. 
3. The delicate operation was _____________________ for several hours, but finally the surgeons were able to 
finish successfully. 
4. We just went to the store an hour ago to buy more beer, and already there isn’t enough 
_____________________. 
5. I can’t understand how we _____________________ so much beer in such a short time. 
6. When we remodeled our house, we added a master bedroom, a large bathroom with jacuzzi, and a walk-in 
closet. We really _____________________. 
7. I really enjoy playing chess. Do you _____________________ playing chess as well? 
8. That you should stay home if you are very sick _____________________. 
9. Do you think that this grey shirt _____________________ these beige pants?